Informal housing in the International Housing Association (IHA) member countries is defined by deviations from the laws and regulatory frameworks that govern formal access and use of land and buildings. Informal housing shares one or more of the following characteristics:

• Located at the urban periphery (non-buildable or risk areas).
• Self-designed and self-built with local materials.
• Does not fully conform to building and land use standards.
• Poorly serviced by infrastructure networks and public services.
• Financed out of family/group savings and/or loans from informal lenders.
• Incrementally improved by the occupant over a long period of time.
• Lacks legal title and often subject to insecurity of tenure.

The IHA member countries shared the state of informal housing in their countries at the January 2017 IHA Annual meeting.

• Australia
• Canada
• Japan
• Mexico
• Norway
• Peru
• South Africa
• USA

Practices and Strategies to Address Informal Housing

The following programs and sample strategies of how informal housing is addressed and supported.

• Mexico
• Peru
• South Africa
  • Informal Settlements Status in South Africa
• Tanzania
• Uganda
  • Overview
  • Transforming the Settlements of the Urban Poor in Uganda (TSUPU) Program
  • TSUPU Brochure

Additional Research Material

• Projects That Have Changed Peoples' Lives in South Africa